Where feet may fail...

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior


AHHH! This song has been stuck in my head the past few weeks! Some of the lyrics just hit me in a way that just leaves me in awe of God‘s grace. “You’ve never failed, and You won’t start now!” I just love that sentence. God doesn’t fail. He never has and he won’t ever fail us. At times we may think He failed us, but He didn’t. God’s plans don’t always fall in line with what we think should have happened. I hope that this is all of our prayer, that we would go wherever God calls us. Though we may fail, God won’t. 

The LORD is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed." (Deuteronomy 31:8)


Seriously, if you haven’t given this song a listen too, you should. Even if it’s just once, or a thousand times. ;) 

~JD

Psalm 34

I will bless the Lord at all times;
    his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
    let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
    and let us exalt his name together!

4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
    and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him
    and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps
    around those who fear him, and delivers them.

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
    Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
    for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
    but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

11 Come, O children, listen to me;
    I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 What man is there who desires life
    and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
    and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn away from evil and do good;
    seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous
    and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
    to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
    not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
    and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
    none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Today I heard someone say that this chapter was encouraging so looked it up and was encouraged by it as well! So just wanted to share this with you and hope that you too were encouraged by it. I know it's been awhile, a LONG while, since my last post. But hopefully, soon I will have a new post written. Thanks for reading!

~JD

Catch Up Post

So, this post is basically just a catch up about the Summer, that has been and gone already. Seems like just a few weeks ago we got out of school, and now. We are started back up. :O Summer went WAY to fast. But oh well, it was full of fun! Some of the highlights of this summer:

1) Camp! This is always one of the best things every year, is going camping (or cabinining in our case) with all our cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. It is an awesome thing to look forward to each year.

2) Florida Trip ~ This summer a few weeks ago in fact, we went down to Florida to visit our brother and sister-in-law. :) It was great to see them again! And to experience the beach for the first time. Seriously, that is one of the most magnificent things I've seen about God's creation. Looking out on what seems to be endless blue water.

3) Testing ~ Yeah, this wasn't exactly fun, or a "highlight" of my summer. But me and my brother did some testing this Summer to prepare for Fall classes that we are taking at a Community College right down the road from us. Woah, we're going to college. Scary thought!

4) I also started up with piano lessons for the Summer, and had an awesome time! Learned a TON!! A special Thank You to my teacher, who was patient throughout the entire Summer, with a student, such as myself. I learned a lot, thank you for furthering my piano experience, so hopefully my playing will be even more glorifying to God. Cause that's what our musical talents our ultimately for.

And now that Summer is over, school has started again as of this past Thursday. Am I excited? Kind of. I'm excited to see what God will do in my life this next semester, both at home, and at the college and just in everyday life. But I know that this semester will be a lot of work. So, that's the less exciting part about school, but that's just life.

Well, that's all that I can really think of for right now, on this blog post. But hopefully, there will be more to come soon! Thanks for reading,

~JD

Umm......

Well, I probably have no readers left for my blog. But for those that still are here. I apologize for not keeping this blog updated. So here's just a few things that have happened over the 2 and 1/2 months since my last blog post. 

1) Started taking piano lessons again! This was a major blessing! So excited to start taking them again. I took piano lessons for 3 years, and the last 5 have been playing randomly, sitting down at the piano, looking over the piano music, playing around on it. But this summer, I started taking again, so really excited about that. I have a great teacher, who is VERY patient with me. lol :) 

2) Camp! We had our family-reunion-camp-cabin-get-together-thing-a-ma-jig. Yeah, it doesn't have an official name, cause "camping" doesn't really settle the term. "Cabin-ing?" That seems to sum it up more. But it was definitely a fun time! Between going on walks, (some trails around the pond), going kayaking, scheduling random trips to Walmart, Dutch Blitz, and just sitting around visiting, and laughing to the point of tears. :P It was an awesome time with family. 

3) Summer jobs. Got a couple summer jobs going on this year. Which is a HUGE blessing! :) And maybe, this fall, I'll be 16, so could be going to work at Hy-Vee. But not sure about that yet. 

4) ACT. What more is there to say? Oh, and not ACT, Like acting in a play or anything. That is not the ACT I speak of.  (No joke, was looking up study books in the library, and when I searched ACT, it came up with all these acting books) I'm talking about the dreaded test that people take. Well, all I can say, is that it was a good first experience. :) 

Well, this wasn't as long as I was hoping. But it was a little update. :) 

~JD

Drama Days!

Well, yesterday we put on two performances of "The Treasure of Castle Siekfurst". An amazing play, written by an amazing writer! Our homeschool group has done Drama for 4 years! 4 amazing years! Although I was only in these last two plays. I have had an amazing time! I wish I would have done it sooner! But I am soooo glad that God gave me the opportunity to do it. But each and every play was unique and awesome! I guess two of the main thins that I got out of this play was:

1) That we can have sooo many idols in this life, that take the place of what is really important. Whether it be beauty, power, fame, being smart, money whatever it may be, we can get so caught up with these things and forget the real important thing that we should be focusing on. These things may seem important, but really they aren't! All these things aren't going to matter in eternity. Our minds should be focused on God and all that he has done for us. Don't get me wrong! None of those things are necessarily "bad". But it becomes bad when those things take the place of God. And we dwell more on those things then we ought too.

Matthew 6:33 -- But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

2) The second main thing I got out of this play, was that no matter how bad you've messed up. No matter what you have done. God is always able to forgive. There is no such thing as messing up too many times in God's eyes. He's waiting for you to ask for forgiveness, to repent of your wrong doings. Run to the arms of Jesus! Oh what a glorious thought that is!

I just want to thank everyone who came to watch the show yesterday! I hope that you guys enjoyed the show! And thank you to our drama director and producer who without them, we couldn't do anything! You guys mean sooo much to all of us! A big thank you the cast, who I have enjoyed their fellowship and encouragement! I have become friends with all of you! A BIG thank you to the crew! The lights and sound guy and gal! :) Without you guys the play wouldn't have worked. Thank you so much!

That's all for now,

~JD

1 year??

Today, I realized that I've had this blog for a year!! Though I haven't been keeping it posted as often as I should. I've had a lot of fun, making posts, trying to make posts, and reading other people's blogs! There are other people's blogs that are 10x better than mine! So here is a look back at some of my favorite posts:

Best of the Blogs! -- This post was about other blogs that you should check out! And believe me, they are worth checking out!!

Awesome Week -- This was a blog post about another blog that you should read, and one of my random posts that tell what I did that week!

Toddler Mischief -- This post was about Grace. And her mischievous self. Giving herself a hair-cut.

Outgoing Grace -- This is yet another post about Grace, and how she has her embarrassing moments. ;)

Perpetua -- This is one of my favorite posts. I got this story right out of the Bible Bee book. :)

Well, I again apologize for the many times this blog wasn't posted in for awhile. That's all for now!

~JD

Good Friday...

Hey Everyone!

Just thought I would do a blog post today. Today is Good Friday!

“What is good about Good Friday? Why isn’t it called Bad Friday? Because out of the appallingly bad came what was inexpressibly good. And the good trumps the bad, because though the bad was temporary, the good is eternal.” -Randy Alcorn

 The day where we remember Christ's crucifixion. I'm so thankful for a loving God, who even though we deserve to go to hell, saved us. Through the death of his only son. I remember learning from our pastor, that the worst part wasn't the physical suffering. Although the pain I'm sure, was unbearable! Isaiah 52:14 -- As many were astonished at you--- his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblence, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind.

Mar - Impair the appearance of; disfigure.

So I'm sure the pain was unimaginable for most of us. But the worst part of it all was the burden of sin of every human, being laid upon Jesus Christ on the cross.  Here is a video that we watched tonight that I thought was pretty cool:

Isaiah 53

Who has believed what he has heard from us?
    And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
    and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
    and no beauty that we should desire him.3 He was despised and rejected by men;
    a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their face;
    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
    yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
    and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
    so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
    and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
    stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
    and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
    and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
    he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
    he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
    make many to be accounted righteous,
    and he shall bear their iniquities.12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
    and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
    and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
    and makes intercession for the transgressors.

He Lives!

~JD